Highview Power has unveiled plans for a long-term energy storage project (LDES) using liquid air energy storage technology (LAES) in Scotland.
The company is developing a 2.5 GWh project called Hunterston at a site in Peel Ports in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It will be the company’s second project using LAES technology. The first step is to build the grid connection and infrastructure for grid stability services, for which the construction permit has been obtained, while the full build-out of the LAES system still requires a construction permit, which the company will now try to obtain.
Scotland’s First Minister, John Swinney MSP, welcomed Highview Power executives to Scotland House in London on October 14 as part of the announcement.
“The creation of the world’s largest liquid air energy facility, in Ayrshire, demonstrates Scotland’s value in delivering a low-carbon future and supporting the global transition to net zero emissions,” Swinney said.
The announcement comes just a few days after the The UK government has confirmed that it will launch a cap-and-floor mechanism for LDES projects after a period of public consultation. Although Highview did not mention the upper and lower limits in its announcement, many consider large-scale LDES projects to be commercially unviable without such a support scheme.
Hunterston is the first project in Highview’s second phase of project development. The first is a project in Manchester, eight times smaller with 300 MWh, for which the company secured £300 million (US$392 million) at in July. The second phase includes four projects totaling 4 GWh, of which Hunterston is the first.
Richard Butland, CEO of Highview Power, said. “This project will be transformative for Scotland in delivering critical storage for offshore wind and solving network constraints.
investment in Ayrshire and the wider region.”
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